The Faery Cake
by Telemna Hyelle
Summary: When premed freshman Sakura is frantically job-hunting in order to keep from burdening her parents, her professor graciously extends a helpful hand with an offer of employment at the cafe and bakery her family owns-'The Faery Cake'. Now Sakura has to serve coffee, cupcakes, and blood pudding to werewolves, Fair Folk, and vampires... and keep up with her studies at the same time.
1. Never Underestimate a Broke Student

_Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does. I just borrow his characters and drop them in increasingly far-flung situations._

_Chapter One: Never Underestimate the Desperation of a Broke College Student._

* * *

People always tell you that you'll never be prepared for college.

Sakura agreed with them, but not for the standard reasons. When she packed her bags and headed off to Konoha university to study for pre-med, she was _not _prepared to become embroiled in the Invisible World she knew nothing of.

But here she was, working at _The Faery Cake_, a bakery and café that catered to an otherly crowd.

Sakura had no right to complain, however. She had accepted this job with the fore-knowledge that things would be strange and she'd have to keep her mouth shut. Sakura had been fine with that, once she had the assurance from the owner that nothing illegal was occurring.

Then she had arrived at the place for training only to be greeted by a seal in a kiddie pool and a smiling girl with pointy teeth stirring what looked like a bowl of flour, butter, and blood.

Tsunade said the fact Sakura didn't faint at the sight was what sealed the deal as to their hiring her. Sakura was still debating as to whether or not she wished she _had_ fainted.

Still, she was here out of her own free will, for one reason and one reason only: Sakura was a pre-med student, and a job was a job and money was money, and she was in very great need of both.

She had mentioned this need to her professor, Tsunade, and Tsunade had given her a strange look before abruptly announcing, "I own a café and bakery, called _The Faery Cake_. My grandfather gave it to me, but I have a friend of mine manage it while I teach and work at the hospital. There's an opening there, you could work at the counter and as a waitress. If you want, I could hire you."

It had seemed to be a blessing descended from heaven. That was, of course, before she had learned that Tsunade's grandfather had been a Green Man of the Woods, and his wife had been a Kitsune from Japan.

And now Sakura was serving hot drinks, food, and baked goods to werewolves, faeries, and other such strange people. Still… at least she was getting paid, and well paid, and Sakura decided that was what mattered most in the end.

* * *

"Sorry I'm late!" Izumi called as she rushed in the back door. "I had a meeting with my mom's family."

Shizune, the manager, made a face as she carefully put her coat away in her locker. "Oh, I'm sorry. It wasn't too bad, I hope?"

Izumi shrugged. "Eh, there's been worse meetings." Izumi was a very pretty girl, with chocolately brown hair, dark eyes, and porcelain skin only marred by a tiny beauty mark below her right eye. She also sported rather pointy teeth. She was a strange anomaly in the Invisible World—a half-blood vampire who could tap into the abilities of her immortal kin. This ability was extremely useful in the bakery—since she possessed tastebuds and a mortal digestive system as well as vampiric abilities of taste and digestion, she was able properly taste-test and compare the blood-filled dishes the kitchen made.

Half-bloods like her, however, were rather looked down upon by their full-blooded kin, which made meetings with the vampiric Uchiha clan utter misery.

"Don't be so hard on the Uchiha, Shizune," Rin, the chief chef and baker, protested. "They're not _all_ bad."

"Oh, that reminds me!" Izumi chirped. "Uncle Obito mentioned that he might be coming by _The Faery Cake _later with Shisui and a couple others."

Sakura was surprised when the changeling turned as red as a tomato, and grinned, sensing gossip.

"Who's Obito, Izumi?" Sakura asked as Izumi tied on her favorite lavender apron. Izumi grinned back at her, waggling her eyebrows.

"Obito and Shisui are my mother's baby brothers." Izumi's dark eyes darted slyly over to a helpless looking Rin, who was waving her hands frantically. "Rin's had a crush on Obito since she was a kid."

Both girls turned to examine the flustered changeling, who was now an even brighter red.

"If you don't turn it down, Rin," Shizune said with a smile, "Obito's likely to think you're a blood pudding and eat you all up."

That was apparently the final straw, and the changeling collapsed on the ground in a faint.

"Whoops." Izumi said sheepishly, kneeling down next to Rin in concern. Luckily, she seemed nothing more than fast asleep.

"I was the one to set her off, and she's partly to blame too." Shizune said with a sigh. "She hasn't been getting enough sleep lately because she's been studying for a botany test, and she's still not used to air in the big city. She's overextending herself, _again_. I'll take her upstairs to Hana's so she can rest a bit before her visitor arrives."

Sakura stepped forward to help, but Shizune slung the girl over her shoulder and vanished through the stairway leading to the upper floor of the building. Izumi and a pre-vet werewolf named Hana roomed up there, so it was a convenient place to stash any exhausted employees. Once the manager and her burden vanished, Sakura turned to Izumi curiously.

"What does Shizune mean, not used to the city air?"

Izumi looked thoughtful as she flipped through the list of desserts that needed re-stocking. "Y'know Rin's a changeling, right?"

Sakura nodded. Rin had mentioned a while back that she was a changeling—a human baby switched with a fae baby and taken to live in the Fae Realm.

"Rin was horribly premature, when she was born. She wouldn't have survived normally, but an seelie who worked in the hospital had pity on the little baby and the baby's parents. The seelie took Rin away to the Fae Realm where she could get the strength to live, and left it's own daughter in Rin's place to comfort the parents." Izumi explained. "Rin's all better now, but her lungs relied on Fae air to develop, and it's been a little hard for her to adjust to mortal air, especial that of a city."

Sakura blinked and glanced upstairs. "I hope she gets better, then."

Izumi shrugged, grinning. "Oh, don't worry. She'll wake up in a little bit, don't worry. After all, we'll have all our customers complaining if we don't have our best baker on the job!"

Sakura snorted and shook her head. Work here was strange and more often than not gave her a headache, but at least the company was pleasant.

"Is Hinata coming in today?" Izumi asked, flipping through the recipe book. Sakura nodded.

"Yeah, she's gonna be an hour late, though. She had to pick her little sister up from school."

Izumi nodded and turned to hunt down ingredients, and Sakura pinned on her nametag before going out and taking her station at the counter, just in time for their first customer of the afternoon to walk through the door. "Hello again, Mr. Yamato! I assume you want your usual order, but would you like anything with your loam-fudge brownies today?"

* * *

Sasuke frowned. "And why exactly are you dragging me along with you to this bakery place?"

"Ah, don't be like that, Sasuke!" Obito chided with a grin. "It's a nice place with great service and an entire section of the menu dedicated to people like _us_! It's a nice change from the standard blood pudding/blood bag fare we get at home. Their blood souffle alone is enough to make me their devoted customer for life!"

"Really, the souffle is why you keep coming back?" Itachi asked dryly. "I thought it was because of the pretty changeling girl who works there… Rin, was her name?"

Obito's face went red (quite a feat, for a vampire), and Shisui jumped in to defend his brother. "Like you're one to talk, Itachi. We all know the reason you attached yourself and Sasuke to our trip was to visit sweet little Izumi."

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Itachi said calmly. Obito raised an eyebrow.

"Really? You think we wouldn't notice the prince of the Uchiha clan sniffing around our adorable little niece?"

Itachi shrugged calmly, but not even Sasuke was fooled. Itachi talked in his sleep when he was at home, and ever since his big brother hit puberty Sasuke had been gathering blackmail material.

"It has not escaped me, Shisui," Itachi said, "Than Miss Inuzuka rooms above _The Faery Cake,_ and if you think I have forgotten you bursting into my third-grade science class to propose to her, you are sadly mistaken."

Shisui nearly tripped on the flat pavement, and Sasuke groaned. "So basically you've dragged me along on a flirting trip? I could have stayed home and studied."

Actually he and his idiot fox of a best friend had been planning a _Halo_ gaming marathon tonight, but Itachi didn't need to know that.

Itachi paused outside of the quant little shop. It was painted a sweet, pastel yellow with vines and butterflies edging the windows and doorways. The wide front window had a windowbox full of flowers—special flowers, however, bought from _Yamanaka Greenhouse_, run by flower fairies. Their smell cast a glamour over any unprotected mortal who walked by, keeping them from entering the shop.

Sasuke's brother put a hand on the doorknob and turned, raising a delicate eyebrow at Sasuke. "I wasn't aware you had to study _Halo_ for your test on Monday."

_Dangit! How does he always know?_

Sasuke quickly pushed his way into the shop in an attempt to get away from the teasing Obito and Shisui were certain to rain down upon his head. The bells above the door let out a cheery jingle, and a voice spoke up cheerfully.

"Welcome to _The Faery Cake_, how can I help you today?"

The voice was sweet as the smell of honey, and Sasuke glanced up into the prettiest green eyes he had ever seen.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Soooo...**

**I saw on facebook today that some scientists in Norway discovered that blood has the same coagulating properties as eggs, and therefore can be used as an egg substitute in baking.**

**Because I am a nerd, I came up with the idea for a fanfiction—a supernatural bakery/café, that caters to the invisible world. Some of their offered delicacies are baked goods with blood instead of eggs, for their carnivorous (such as werewolves) and blood-ingesting (vampires) customers, so they would be able to partake in sweets that would otherwise not be to their taste. This is especially relevant to the vampires, who find normal food bland. This way they will be able to have sweets and actually _taste_ the sweetness.**

**And of course, it had to be a Sasu/Saku fic. Cause what else? **

**I am REALLY sorry this is not an update for _Change_ or _Amazement_ or _The Ramen Shop_. _Change _should be updated today or tomorrow, though, so if you read that, keep an eye out for it!**

**As for this story... I have no idea where this is going. I may just leave it as it is... though my plot bunnies are the kind that never leave anything open-ended unexplored for long. I hope y'all like it though!**

**Until next time!**


	2. Sakura is Uninformed

_Disclaimer: *checks bank account* Hm, still poor? Guess I still don't own Naruto, then..._

_Chapter Two: Sakura is Uninformed and Eye Candy Abounds_

* * *

The last hour had been rather slow—business at _The Faery Cake_ usually only picked up around twilight. With an hour yet to go, Sakura had put one of her textbooks on the counter and was busy taking notes when the bell at the door jingled.

Sakura quickly stuffed her textbook below the counter and looked up with her best service smile, singing out cheerfully, "Welcome to _The Faery Cake_, how can I help you today?"

The customer glanced up, and ink-black eyes met her own, and Sakura felt her heart skip a beat. He was incredibly handsome, with pale, refined features, smooth as marble. His hair was on the longer side, spiky, and black as his eyes. He was wearing black jeans and a t-shirt with a black hoodie overtop, and Sakura thought she would never see a more gorgeous man in her life.

She was proved wrong a moment later when his three companions walked in the door.

Like the first guy, they were all tall, pale, dark haired, and drop-dead gorgeous. The tallest had the shortest, spikiest hair, and three strangely curved scars below his right eye. The second tallest had skin that was a little tanner than his companions, and also the longest hair. It was smooth and silky and fell past his shoulder blades in a glorious inky waterfall. He was also the prettiest, and the stress lines beneath his eyes did not detract from his gorgeousness but instead gave him a dignified, thoughtful air.

The third and last was only slightly shorter than his long-haired friend, with a bright, cheerful face and a wild mess of dark curls.

Sakura nearly whimpered. _Guys aren't supposed to that much prettier than me!_ Still, she had gotten used to being surrounded by unearthly pretty people since she started working here, so she kept smiling cheerfully.

The tallest—the one with the strange scars—strode over to the counter, a bright grin stretching across his face.

"Hiya! You must be the new girl little Izumi was telling us about!"

Recognition sparked in Sakura's brain, and her eyes lit up. "Oh, you must be one of Izumi's uncles! She told us you would be stopping by."

"Yep, I'm her Uncle Obito, and this—" The man snaked an arm out around the curly-haired boy's shoulders, tugging him up to the counter, "Is my baby brother, Shisui! And you are?"

Sakura smiled and bowed her head politely. "I'm Sakura Haruno. If you wait one moment, I'll get your niece up here to say hi." Obito and Shisui nodded, and Sakura stepped back, opening the door to the kitchen. "Hey, Izumi? Your uncles are here!"

There was a clatter, as if someone had dropped one of the metal mixing bowls, and Sakura grinned.

_If only there was a way to get Rin up here… hm._

The door burst open a second later, and Izumi bounced out cheerfully. "Hey Uncle Obi, 'bout time you sho—" The words dried up, and her dark eyes went wide. "P-prince Itachi! I d-didn't know you were coming!"

Sakura's mind went blank. _Excuse me, what prince?_

Sakura followed Izumi's gaze to the man with the long hair. He was smiling faintly, raising one hand in protest.

_What. What is going on._

_I don't understand anything._

"I thought I might come and say hello to an old friend. I hope you don't mind, Miss Izumi?"

His voice was deep and cultured, the exact sort of voice Sakura would expect a prince to have. Was he a prince? Prince of what? From where? _What was he doing in their shop? _

Izumi blinked and shook her head. "No, of course not! Um, have you met Sakura yet?"

"She introduced herself," Shisui spoke up, his eyes dancing with amusement at Izumi's fluster. It was something Sakura would have to think about later, as soon as her brain processed what on earth was going on.

"Oh, well, then!" Izumi spun to face Sakura, beaming happily, and gestured to Itachi. "Sakura, this is Prince Itachi Uchiha. He's been Uncle Shisui's best friend since we were all kids."

"I think you mean since _you_ were all kids," Obito said haughtily, "_I'm_ older than all of you brats."

"_Only by seventy years_," Shisui muttered under his breath, and Sakura blinked again.

_Right. Izumi's uncles. Vampires. You should be used to this by now. _She took a deep breath to calm herself. _Still doesn't explain the whole royalty thing._

"Sorry, but I'm sort of new at this," Sakura explained nervously. "But what are you prince of, Itachi, sir?"

The first man who had come in and had thus far been silent stared at her. "You _don't_ know who Itachi is?"

"Can't you tell?" Izumi said. "Sakura's our first human hire! It's super exciting, isn't it?"

The man's eyes widened, and he glanced away quickly. "No, I hadn't realized." He said grumpily. "Not with hair like that, anyway."

Sakura turned pink and reached up to finger a lock of her hair. True, it was a strange color… but she didn't think it was _that _strange. Just a redder shade of strawberry-blonde.

Itachi shot the man a sharp glance, then turned and bowed to Sakura. "My apologies for my little brother's behavior—father dropped him once when he was a baby and I'm afraid it affected his social skills."

His younger brother opened his mouth to protest, but Itachi shot him a look and he shut up. Itachi turned back to her with a sheepish smile and said, "Anyway, my father is the head of the Uchiha clan and King of Vampires."

Sakura bowed back awkwardly. "I didn't know that vampires had kings. That's super cool!" She said cheerfully.

Itachi blinked and laughed. "I suppose so. I've never thought of it that way before."

"All this is very interesting and all," Obito said, "But I'm getting very hungry…"

Sakura thought that the way his eyes kept darting to the door leading to the kitchen indicated Obito was hungry for something else, but decided to take his order.

He ordered a blood soufflé with blood sausage, and a plain cup of blood. Shisui wanted blood croissants, with nothing to drink. Sakura quickly jotted this down and then turned to the prince.

"And what would you like, sir?"

Itachi rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I don't know… I've never eaten here before. Do you have any recommendations?"

Sakura opened her mouth to answer, when a devious plan sprang forth into her mind. "Well, I'm not a baker or anything other than human, so perhaps those are questions you should ask our chief baker?" She glanced at Izumi, who was staring at her curiously. "Right, _Izumi_?"

Izumi blinked at Sakura for a moment, but then the light dawned. She smirked at Sakura and turned to the kitchen. "You're absolutely right, Sakura. I'll go get her right now."

She darted through the door, from whence issued cries and sounds of struggle. The vampires stared curiously, but Sakura ignored it, going about plating Obito and Shisui's orders and digging under the counter for the Styrofoam cup lids for vampiric ease.

After a moment, Izumi charged back through the door, dragging a wide-eyed, feet-dragging Rin by the arm. "And here she is!" The half-blood sang cheerfully. She released Rin and gave her a little push to the counter. "Go and advise the prince, I'm sure he's getting quite hungry."

Rin shot Izumi and Sakura a look reminiscent of a kicked puppy, but she shuffled forward to do as requested. Izumi darted over to where Sakura was working, and both of them observed the interaction.

Rin seemed calm and composed when addressing Itachi, but the slightest glance at Obito would cause a faint shade of rose to spread across her cheeks. Obito, for his part, was staring at Rin with a dopey grin on his face.

Izumi and Sakura locked eyes and let out a romantic sigh in tandem. "_You're right,_" Sakura whispered. "_They totally like each other!_"

"_I know, right?_" Izumi whispered back. "_And they're totally adorable, aren't they_?"

They burst into giggles, and Rin glanced back at them with another kicked-puppy look. It was probably supposed to be a glare, but the girl didn't seem capable of the whole 'menacing' look.

After a moment, Itachi nodded and turned to Sakura, lifting a hand to indicate he was ready to order. Sakura bustled over to take it, and Rin turned to flee to safety.

Obito, however, spoke up first. "Hey, Rin!"

Rin froze, and turned back to face the eldest Uchiha. "Yes?"

"Well, um…" Obito rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I was… wondering… how your mother is doing?"

Rin glanced nervously back at the kitchen, but steeled up her courage and stepped closer to the counter. Izumi and Sakura exchanged glances.

_Mission accomplished. _

Sakura smiled cheerfully as she took Itachi's order—chocolate blood cake along with tea steeped in blood—then turned to the last member of the group.

"And what would you like today, Prince, um…" She searched her memory frantically, but came up with a blank on his name.

"Sasuke." He said, raising an eyebrow and smirking. Sakura felt her heart go _pity-pat_ again.

_Stop that._ She scolded it. _He's a vampire_ prince_, you've exchanged like three words with him, plus you don't have time with this job and all your studying. Think of your grades!_

That was enough to calm the traitorous little organ down, and she focused on her customer. "Well, then, what would you like, Prince Sasuke?"

His eyes roamed the whiteboard on the wall behind her thoughtfully. After a moment he said, "I'd like blood coffee, black, no sugar. Strong."

"Ah," Sakura said sympathetically. "College getting to you?"

"That and relatives," He muttered, and Sakura smiled.

"Izumi's talked about your relatives. I'll make sure that coffee's extra strong."

She turned to the coffee machine, took a cup, and pressed the _blood_ button. The heated blood spilled into the cup, and the metallic scent stung at her nose.

_One perk of this job is that I'm gonna have absolutely no problem with blood by the time I get to residency._ Sakura thought with a grin as she began to mix in the coffee grounds. Soon it was done, and she carefully fitted the Styrofoam lid overtop (good for easy fang-piercing), and slid it across the counter. "Here you go!"

Sasuke picked it up and sniffed, before glancing up and meeting her eyes. The corner of his mouth quirked into a smile. "Thanks." With that, he turned around and strode across the café to one of the corner booths.

Obito pulled out his wallet the next moment, and Sakura went over to the cash register and rang them up, trying to ignore the way her stupid little heart was tap-dancing again.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Wow, this story got a lot of attention! I wasn't quite expecting all this feedback from just one chapter. Who'da thunk? I hope this chapter holds up to your expectations!**

**This chapter brings to an end the 'inciting moment' as it were-they have met and now know each others names. The question is... where shall they go on from here?**

**I've been having a lot of fun picking out mythical beings and backstories for each Naruto character-any guesses as to who may be what? I'm curious to see what you think! Who knows, you may give me some ideas!**

**Till next time! See ya next chapter!**


	3. Sasuke is Grumpy

_Disclaimer: My name is Telemna Hyelle, my Quest is to write good Fanfiction, and I do not own either Naruto or the knowledge as to the flight speed of a swallow._

_Chapter Three: Sasuke is Grumpy, and a Fae and a Mortal Are Unenthused About Their Classmates_

* * *

Ever since the day Itachi and Obito and Shisui dragged him to that shop, Sasuke could not get his mind off the girl. Every time he saw a flash of pink out of the corner of his eye, he would turn, expecting to see her.

It pissed him off.

So here he was… first day of chem class, trying to get his mind in gear, and all Sasuke could think about was how a mortal girl got involved with the Invisible World.

_Dangit._

A backpack slammed down onto the desk next to his, making Sasuke twitch in surprise. "Hey, jerkface!"

Sasuke snorted, smoothly covering his surprise. "Loser."

His neighbor didn't take offense, only grinned wider and flopped into his seat, leaning back with a grin. "So what has you all distracted? Don't think I didn't see you twitch!"

"You're imagining things."

The male shook his head. "Nah, don't think so. Don't you agree, Sai?"

A pale man sat down on Sasuke's other side and smiled creepily. "Indeed, Impotent. Traitor's muscles jumped involuntarily, which indicates surprise. His skills must be more lacking than I thought."

Sasuke clenched his jaw. _One time. I backstab them one time in Halo to get revenge on Itachi, and the idiot and his changeling pal never let me forget it._

"Call off your changeling dog, Naruto." The vampire replied flatly. He was _not_ in the mood today.

Sai frowned. "That's not a very polite thing to your peer and your superior. I _am_ a King, after all."

"Peer and King or not," Sasuke said with a smirk, "you're both idiots."

Naruto flopped onto his desk, sniffling pitifully. "Why are you so meeeeannn? You're no fun."

"I never said I was." Sasuke shot back.

Naruto stuck out his tongue childishly, before a sudden thought entered his mind and he smirked. "Whatever it is, I'm sure I could get Itachi to tell me…"

Sasuke wasn't sure if his brother knew anything about… Sasuke's distraction… but few things rarely got past the Crown Prince of the Uchiha. He couldn't risk it. "I already told you, numbskull, I wasn't dis—"

At that moment a flash of pink strode through the classroom door, and Sasuke felt his blood freeze in his veins.

This time, it wasn't a false alarm. And the idiot and the changeling were right there to see it.

_Frick._

* * *

Sakura was annoyed.

Her first semester of her freshman year of college had started four weeks ago (was it only three weeks since she started working at _The Faery Cake_? It seemed like an eternity), and yet today was her first day of chem class.

Sakura was not sure how on earth her chem teacher managed to convince the college to let him delay the class's start this long.

She turned the corner and saw a familiar figure hovering uncertainly in front of the classroom door. Sakura stopped and blinked. "Hinata?"

The pale, dark haired girl snapped her head around at the sound of the voice, then immediately rushed over and grabbed onto Sakura's jacket sleeve. "Miss Sakura! Please, you have to help me!"

Alarmed, Sakura grabbed Hinata's shoulders to steady the girl. "What's wrong, Hinata? Did someone bother you? Just point me in the right direction and-"

Hinata shook her head. "N-no, it's nothing like t-that. Um, I … I need your help to sneak into the classroom!"

Sakura stared at the girl. Hinata was a Seelie Fae that worked as an assistant baker at _The Faery Cake_, and to be honest, one of Sakura's favorites. She worked hard and always had a shy smile on her face, and was incredibly sweet, diligent, and extremely kind. She even went so far as to rescue the spiders from the combined wrath of Sakura and the cooking staff, taking them outside and releasing them safely. Sakura counted Hinata as one of her best friends here, and basically, she'd do what she could to help her, even if it was weird as heck.

"Sure…" Sakura said, "But why do you need to sneak into the classroom? What's wrong?"

Hinata swallowed hard and glanced about, before leaning closer and whispering. "Um, s-so, the elders of my f-family want to put a s-special…" she gulped, hard, "_c-curse_ on either my sister or me, d-depending on, um, who F-father picks as his heir. Father d-doesn't want to, s-so he helped H-hanabi and me escape here until he thinks of a s-solution."

Sakura frowned. "That's not very nice of your family."

Hinata shrugged helplessly, glancing back at the door. "I w-went to go into the classroom, a-and I saw the Seelie Prince inside! I-if he finds out I'm here, he'll tell his f-father, and Father's hands will be tied! We'll get dragged b-back to the S-seelie court and H-hanabi could…" She squeezed her eyes shut fiercely, trying to stave off tears.

Sakura clenched her fists in determination. "Right." She said. "I have a plan."

Hinata's head shot up, and Sakura slung an arm around the fae's shoulders. "Just follow me, and I'll help you get into the classroom without being spotted, no sweat." She strode to the doors, Hinata scrambling along behind her. When the reached the door, Sakura paused and whispered, "All right, just hunch down behind me, and walk like that until I find a good seat. You can sit in front of me, so I'll block you from his line of sight."

Sakura made to open the door, then paused thoughtfully. "What does this prince guy look like again?"

"Umm, he's tall and v-very ha-handsome… with blonde hair, and c-cute whisker marks o-on his cheeks." Hinata whispered back.

Sakura raised an eyebrow at the description, but decided now was not the time. "Right, blond hair, whisker marks, tall. Got it. Here we go!"

She opened the door carefully so as to not attract attention, and felt Hinata slinking in on her heels. She let out a breath and did what she hoped looked like a casual glance of the room, scanning for tall guys with blonde hair.

The classroom was still mostly empty, so she managed to zero in on the guy pretty quickly. She continued walking through the classroom, trying to find a good spot. He was pretty good looking, she thought idly, though not quite her type. Nah, her type was more the guy sitting next to him, the one that was a spitting image of the younger Uchiha Prince….

Sakura felt her mind nearly give up the ghost.

_What the heck_

_Why is there a Vampire Prince in my Chem Classroom?_

She paused for half a second, but felt a jolt as Hinata's head bumped into the backs of her thighs, and she was reminded of her mission. _Right. Hinata, Seelie Prince, stay away, get good grades. Bad time to think about… men. Men-ish? Dudes. Yeah, that works._

She zeroed in on a likely spot. The Seelie prince was sitting on a row seat, so she picked another row seat, several spots in front of him. If Hinata sat in front of her, she'd be neatly shielded from his prying gaze. Perfect.

_Right, here goes_. She stopped and turned, slinging off her backpack and plopping it on the desk. Hinata got the hint and carefully slunk into the seat in front of Sakura's chosen space, hunkering down to avoid being seen. Sakura then slipped into her own chair, leaving Hinata able to sit up properly.

The Fae glanced back and smiled tentatively at the mortal and Sakura grinned and gave her a thumbs up.

_It seemed to go smoothly… _Sakura thought, resisted the urge to look back. _I really hope it worked. Hinata doesn't need any of that crap in her life._

Sakura pulled open her textbook and focused on it, trying hard to ignore the tingling sensation darting up her spine. She was imagining things. If she glanced back, Sakura wouldn't find the Vampire Prince's eyes trained on her.

Right?

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**And another chapter! More characters have been introduced, each with (I hope) intriguing backstories. I'm really looking forward to how the rest of the story plays out! We've still lot a long way to go, and the road is indeed fuzzy.**

**I realized a couple days after I posted last chapter I forgot to thank you guys for all the faves, follows, and reviews! I'm so sorry! I guess it just slipped my mind :(**

**Anyway, a couple answers to questions from our readers~**

**Guest22 (chapter 1 review): Oh, thank you! Your bold letters are not annoying at all-in fact they're nice, cause they let me know how much you enjoyed my fic! I'm so glad you like my ships-I'm rather fond of them myself ;). We've got a couple more minor ships coming, and I hope you enjoy them too! And yes, there will DEFINITELY more Itaizu and ObiRin and the rest. Not as much as our Main Couple, but it will definitely be there because I am a sucker for fluff and romance. **

**Guest22 (chapter 2 review): Well, if you insist... ;). And yes, this story is going to be a light-hearted romcom. Most of my other stories will have a bunch of drama in them, so I wanted to write something different-something fun and sweet and lighthearted. I'm glad you're really looking forward to the rest of the story!**

**SuperKirschbluete: Thanks for your ideas! Sadly, as I said in the response above, that while your ideas are really, really cool and would be super awesome to read, this fic cannot be their forever home. The closest to danger this story will get will be some references to things that happened in the past, or when someone tries to get between Sakura and her morning coffee. Thanks again for the ideas, though-they're super amazing. Perhaps you could use them and come up with a vampire prince!Sasuke/mortal Sakura story of your own? **

**sierras358: In this au, Sakura is not a fighter. She's a pre-med and very serious about her dreams and goals. However, she IS rather strong, cause she works out at the gym every couple days cause exercise is good for your health. She's not a pushover and would totally punch a guy that tried to mess with her or her friends, but she's not a fighter. Just random mortal girl who happens to waitress at a supernatural cafe. **

**MademoiselleRED: I'm not certain? This fic is still in a very nebulous stage of existence, and I'm feeling it out as I go along. So far, I have ideas for at least one other truly 'mortal' character, and I'm just beginning (with events revealed in this chapter) to figure out how they fit into this world. Of course, if one was to be purely technical, Sakura is already not the only mortal character in the story, because both Rin and Sai (if you paid attention) are changelings, and therefore genetically human and mortal. Since they are changelings however, they've lost their 'mortalness' over time, but if you took a blood test they would come up human, albeit with a lack of cell decay. **

**I think that's all the questions, so I've got to go now! My bed is calling me. Goodnight, and see ya next chapter!**


	4. I Don't Know You

_Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns Naruto. All I own is an army of stuffed animals and this plot. Clearly, I am the superior one. _

_Chapter Four: I Don't Know You, But I Am Perfectly Willing to Throw You Under the Bus to Enact my Diversion_

* * *

"Dude," Naruto hissed. "Who's the hot chick that you're staring at?"

"_Shut up!_" Sasuke hissed. "And I'm not staring at anyone!"

"A lie," Sai said calmly. "Your gaze has not moved from the young woman two rows ahead of us for the past five minutes."

Sasuke gritted his teeth and willed the tips of his ears to remain their standard pale shade. He opened his mouth to reply, but it was then the doors flew open and the teacher sauntered in.

Sasuke and Naruto groaned in unison. _Of course it'd be him._

A tall man with wild silver hair, an eyepatch, and a scarf obscuring the lower half of his face sauntered into the room and took his place behind the desk at the front. He propped one elbow on the desk, pillowed his cheek on it, and rummaged beneath the desk for something. After a moment he seemed to find what he was looking for, and then proceeded to devote most of his attention to it.

If Sasuke knew the man at all, the professor probably had one of those filthy books propped open on his knee.

The class stared at the professor in silence for several long moments before he spoke. "I'm Kakashi Hatake, your professor. I'll be teaching you chemistry, and I hope you're all intelligent enough to keep up. Open your textbooks to page five…"

Naruto and Sasuke shared looks. _Do you think it's too late to transfer to another college?_

* * *

Class was finally over, and Sakura could not be more relieved.

Professor Hatake was clearly intelligent, but he seemed to make a game of appearing disinterested and negligent while somehow managing to keep an eagle-eye on the class.

Sakura also wasn't sure what it was that he was reading under his desk, but something that could make a grown man giggle like that was not something she wanted to know anything more about.

Just as Sakura was sliding her textbooks into her backpack, her stomach rumbled, and she dug in her pocket and pulled out her wallet, flipping through it curiously.

"Hey, Hinata, you have a shift tonight, right?"

Hinata jumped at being address, but she turned and nodded, smiling tentatively. "Um, y-yes, that's right."

"Well…" Sakura grinned and waggled her wallet. "How about you and I go and get supper before work? My treat!"

Hinata's cheeks turned pink in surprise, but she bit her lip, straightened her shoulders and said boldly, "Y-yes, I'd like that! I h-haven't gotten a call f-from Hanabi's principal, so I don't h-have t-to go pick her up."

"Awesome!" Sakura said cheerily. "So, where do you want go? There's a really nice café just down the street from my apartment and—" She stopped when Hinata's cheeks turned deathly white. "What's wrong?"

The Seelie Fae slunk down in her seat and whispered,_ "P-prince N-naruto a-and his f-friends are c-coming!"_

_Oh crap._ Sakura stealthily turned her head and saw that Prince Sasuke and his two friends—one of them tall, blonde, and whiskered—had indeed stood up and were beginning to make their way down the aisle.

_They'll walk right past Hinata and we can't risk the chance that he may see her. _Sakura narrowed her green eyes in thought._ We'll need… a diversion._

The girl leaned forward and whispered quickly, "_Hinata, I have a plan. Grab your stuff and hunker down. When I give the signal, crawl along the floor until you reach the wall, then follow it to the door. I'll distract the guys, and meet you at the bus stop._"

Hinata bit her lip nervously but quickly did as she was told. Just in time as well, cause the tree men had nearly reached them.

_Right, Sakura._ Sakura clenched her fists, steeling her nerves. _Showtime. _

Just as the blonde man walked past Sakura, the girl surged to her feet and flung out a hand, finger pointing accusingly. "Hey! Give that back, you thief!"

At the same moment, she dropped her wallet, and with a deft little kick sent it sliding across the floor, coming to rest next to the blonde guy.

Speaking of said blonde guy, he and his two friends (including one incredibly hot vampire prince, with whom she was acquainted) spun around to face Sakura. _Focus, Sakura. The blonde one is the problem. Also, stop admiring Prince Sasuke's face. It's not particularly helpful right now. _

Sakura focused her attention on the blonde prince. His face was slack with shock, blue eyes wide and mouth hanging open. He raised his arms in protest. "H-hey, I don't know what you're talking about, y'know! I swear! I didn't steal anything!"

"Liar!" Sakura screeched. "You took my wallet! Give it back, you creep!" She casually stepped to the side to block Hinata's crouched form from view, and shoved her finger in the guys face. "Don't try to deny it, you have a sleazy look in your eyes. Give it back!"

At this point, the entire class was looking at her, which was Sakura's objective. She sifted one foot back and nudged the hiding Seelie, who took the hint and scuttled away carefully.

The vampire prince was also staring at her, but his eyes were narrowed suspiciously. Sakura resisted the urge to gulp. _He suspects something. Dangit. _

"Hey, lady, I didn't take your wallet, believe it!" The man protested loudly, and Sakura upped her rage.

"Oh, really?" She shrieked. "Then show me where it is, you thieving liar!"

"Hey, what's all this?" A new voice said, interrupting their little drama. To Sakura's shock she recognized it, and turned her head to see Obito Uchiha. He was clad in the uniform of the campus security, his hands tucked into his pockets as he leaned against the door. "Y'know, Kakashi, can't you control your students a little more? I could hear the yelling down the hall."

Kakashi glanced up from his desk, shrugging and cheerfully closing his eyes in a strange smile. "Well, well, I thought it'd be good for my cute students to practice conflict resolution. Get them used to the adult world and all."

Obito stared at him, and Kakashi cheerfully eye-smiled back. After a moment Obito sighed. "You just wanted to give me more work, didn't you?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Now, would I ever do that?"

Obito groaned and turned back. "Right, well, Ms. Haruno, Mr. Namikaze, will one of you explain what's going on here?"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Sorry this is so late! Last month was pretty busy, and the words just weren't coming, for either my work projects or my fanfictions. But I wrote half of this chapter today, and I hope to get chapters out for the rest of my stories in the next week or two. **

**Thank you to all who have faved, followed, and reviewed my story! Thanks so much, your support means a lot to me!**

**To shinobinaraku-Oh, thank you! I'm glad you liked it. And yes, Sakura is not a lost secret princess or going to gain a massive power up. She is a normal girl and will remain so for the entirety of the story. I hope you enjoy today's chapter!**

**Sorry this sort of ends at a cliffhanger. I was going to add more to this chapter, but tomorrow will be busy and I really wanted this chapter out tonight. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! We'll find out how this situation resolves itself next chapter. **

**Until then, have a lovely day! See you next chapter!**


	5. Casual Acquaintances Come to the Rescue

_Disclaimer: My name is Telemna Hyelle, I like ramen, fanfiction, and my jaguar Jumpy, I dislike people who are cruel to others, and my dream is to own Naruto. _

_Chapter Five—Casual Acquaintances are Likely to Come to the Rescue if You Work With Their Crush_

* * *

"Right, well, Ms. Haruno, Mr. Namikaze, will one of you explain what's going on here?"

Sakura had long held to the viewpoint that the best defense was a good offense, so she jabbed her finger at the Seelie Prince's face and declared, "This blonde-haired, whiskered creep stole my wallet!"

The Prince waved his hands frantically, his eyes wide and bewhilered. "I swear it isn't true, Uncle Obito, ya know! I didn't steal her wallet! I don't even know her 'cept the fact the jerk was staring at her all class!"

Obito's eyebrows lifted at that. Judging from the spine-melting glare Prince Sasuke sent his blonde counterpart, the 'jerk' in question was the vampire prince. In a less dire situation, Sakura would have put more thought to this fact, but at the moment she was far too busy.

Obito turned back to Sakura. "Do you have any proof of your claims, Ms. Haruno?"

Sakura opened her mouth to respond, but the sound of the door opening distracted her, her gaze flicking to the doorway to see Hinata slipping out into the hallway and safety. A surge of relief filled her chest, and her gaze darted back to the vampiric security officer. Now that Hinata was out and free, she could devote her entire attention to this little diversion, giving Hinata the chance to gain as much distance as possible.

However, when she returned her gaze to Obito, she was horrified to see his own eyes returning from the direction the door. Their gazes met, suspicion in the security guard's eyes, and Sakura felt a cold sweat break out across her back.

_He knows._

The next second, her gaze narrowed. _He might know, but this is for Hinata! If he expects me to spill my guts without a fight, he's dead wrong!_

"Well, the fact that I don't have the wallet any more!" She burst out, her countenance fairly blazing with self-righteousness. "You can search my bag if you want, but it's not there! The creep has it, so you should search him and you'll—" She let her gaze drop to the floor, as if by accident, and gasped. "Look, there it is! On the floor by his feet!"

Everyone's gaze fell to the floor. The Seelie Prince's face turned an interesting shade of purple, his eyes bugged out, and he shrieked, jumping away from the wallet as if it was on fire.

"I don't know how it got there, ya know!" He yelled plaintively, "I swear I didn't steal anything from the crazy lady!"

"He must have dropped it to try and hide the fact he stole it!" Sakura accused, "Arrest him! I _need _that wallet!" She squeezed her eyes shut hard enough to produce drops of moisture, hands coming up to cover her face. "I spent most of my paycheck on textbooks and now I have barely enough money to get by—he might've as well killed me!"

At this declaration, the entirety of the class turned to Seelie prince with a mass glare of condemnation that would have frozen the sun itself.

The prince whimpered and turned to Obito. "I didn't steal it! Please, Uncle Obito, ya gotta believe me!"

The pale-faced, dark haired man standing next to the Seelie and the Vampire looked up from the book his nose had been buried in, one thin eyebrow arched. "I don't find it surprising your performance at thievery is lacking, Impotent, just as you are in other areas." He said calmly.

A hush fell over the classroom. Obito stared at the Seelie and the pale man.

Prince Sasuke's mouth twitched minutely.

Sakura couldn't believe her ears. _Did he just say what I thought he said._

The Seelie's face turned a shade of red that could rival a plum and he grabbed the pale man's collar, shaking it furiously. "I DIDN'T STEAL ANYTHING, SAI! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE ON MY SIDE, YOU IDIOT!"

Ignoring the attempted murder occurring, Obito stepped forward and picked up the wallet before turning to Sakura. "Is this yours, Ms. Haruno?"

Sakura took it and gave it a cursory look over before nodding. "Yes, it is. You see? That blond weirdo stole it!"

"Perhaps," Obito responded, "But we have no proof—and it's entirely possible your wallet fell out onto the floor by itself, right?"

Sakura blinked at him. _Wait, is he not going to expose mine and Hinata's plan?_

"So, without anyway to discover what happened, would you be alright with just taking your wallet and let the matter rest and withdraw your accusation?" His tone was serious, but there was a knowing smile in his eyes that said he knew she made the whole thing up but was helping her anyway.

Huh.

Maybe it was because she worked with Rin? If so, she needed to hug Rin when she gets to the Faery Cake this afternoon.

Still keeping up the charade, Sakura frowned down at the wallet before shrugging. "Well, I… suppose…" and tucked the wallet in her pocket. "Fine! I retract my accusation, but I'll have you know I'm keeping an eye on you!" With that, she grabbed her bag.

The Seelie prince dropped his pale friend and let out a huge sigh of relief. "Thanks, Uncle Obito! You saved me from the crazy lady!"

Sakura sent him a dirty look (though she supposed she deserved the moniker) and swept out of the room. As she left, she heard Professor Hatake say, "Nice job, Obito! I couldn't have done it better myself!", which was followed by an incomprehensible splutter of rage.

* * *

She found Hinata pacing nervously at the bus stop, wringing her hand together frantically.

"Mission accomplished!" Sakura chirped happily, depositing her laptop on the ground and taking a seat on the bench.

"Are you okay?" Hinata burst out nervously. "Did it work?"

"Yep and yep!" Sakura replied. "Your Seelie prince was completely focused on me. The only one who might've caught on was Izumi's Uncle, but he let me get away with it, so we're all good."

"Izumi's Uncle might have let you get away with it," A voice said from behind Sakura, "But that doesn't mean "we're all good". I gave you the benefit of the doubt cause Izumi and Rin like you, but I, for one, am very curious as to why my niece's nicely mannered coworker accused my mentor's son out of the blue!"

Sakura and Hinata spun to face Obito, who was leaning casually against the tree, Professor Hatake beside him.

Hinata let out a squeak of shock and despair, and Sakura leaped in front of her, fists clenched. "Just leave us alone! I'm sorry for disturbing your class, Professor, but I had to!" She said, lifting her chin defiantly.

"Yeah, I saw that." Obito said, rubbing his chin. "Why'd you go to such effort to sneak someone out of the classroom?"

Sakura bit her lip. "That's not my place to say."

"As entertaining as it was," Professor Hatake replied, "It won't reflect well on me if you kick up such a fuss every class. But… perhaps, if you deigned to explain, we could figure out a solution?"

Sakura was torn—it _was_ true that her plan wasn't a lasting solution… and Obito was Izumi's Uncle, and she obviously thought an awful lot of him.

"What do you think?" She whispered, and Hinata shifted nervously, trembling fingers gripping the back of Sakura's sweater.

"W-well…" She said, "H-help would be n-nice, and, um, Izumi s-says her Uncle is nice, t-too."

"Alright!" Sakura declared, lifting her chin again. "But if you double-cross us, I'll get Shizune to ban you from the shop—and," Her green eyes narrowed as she went in for the kill, "_I'll tell Rin and she'll never want anything to do with you again_!"

Obito face froze in a mask of horror, and he waved both hands frantically. "Don't worry, I promise we won't do anything of the sort!"

The professor laughed. "It seems as if Ms. Haruno's got you figured out, Obito." He smiled at Sakura—or so he seemed too. The lower half of his face was still covered by the scarf, but his one eye crinkled and he seemed to emit a general aura of warmth. "Well, perhaps it would be best if we discussed the situation somewhere more private?"

Sakura glanced back at Hinata, who nodded and smiled nervously, then nodded. "Hinata and I were going to grab a bite to eat before work, so we can talk it out over supper, but I'm not paying for you guys."

"Good grief…" Professor Hatake muttered. "One might think you _should_ pay, after all the trouble you caused today."

Sakura, being an adult, responded maturely and stuck her tongue out at him. Then she snatched up Hinata's hand, squeezed it reassuringly, and strode off down the street towards the nearest café. Obito and Hatake followed, the professor looking displeased over the thought of spending money, and the Uchiha still shell-shocked from the threat dangling over his head.

As they walked, Hinata squeezed Sakura's hand and whispered quietly, "_Thank you._"

Sakura grinned and winked back. "No problem. You're my friend, how could I do anything less?"

Hinata's eyes widened, before smiling back, suddenly seeming to stand a little straighter.

* * *

Meanwhile, at a little noodle place not too far away, two princes and a king of the Invisible World sat eating their dinner, highly confused.

"She just accused me out of the blue!" Naruto suddenly burst out for the fourth time since he sat down. "What'd I do? Why was she picking on me?" He whined.

"Maybe she sensed your general stupidity and saw you as an easy target." Sai replied, sipping his noodles blandly.

"You take that back, Sai!" The Seelie prince retorted, and would have lunged for Sai's throat if Sasuke hadn't kicked his shin.

"_Quiet_," The lone vampire hissed. "You're making a scene."

Naruto subsided, grumbling, but after a minute picked up again. "Hey, waitaminute, that was the girl you were staring at all class! Y'know, the hot one with the pink hair!" He narrowed his blue eyes on the Uchiha, before a sudden epiphany descended upon him as if from above. "_No way_!" He hissed.

The half-seelie leaned forward, his eyes narrowing even further in suspicion, and said, "I've got it! Your jerkiness has finally become contagious and you're infecting cute girls with your nastiness!"

Sasuke's mouth pinched in annoyance. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard, Naruto."

Sai swallowed his mouthful and tipped his head to one side. "Your theory would explain the woman's unusual, unprovoked behavior."

Sasuke stared at them. "You're out of your minds." He said flatly.

"Well, then, Mister Know-It-All," Naruto huffed righteously, "_You_ tell us why you think the girl went all wacko on me!"

The vampire prince narrowed his eyes in thought. "I don't know… but I know how to find out."

"So you _do _know her," Sai said thoughtfully, and Sasuke shook his head.

"I don't _know_ her," he corrected, "But I've met her once. She's the new mortal hire at _The Faery Cake_."

A light dawned in Naruto's eyes. "Wait… you mean Granny Tsunade's place? Where big sis Rin works?"

Sai shook his head. "Considered Lady Tsunade is your aunt's granddaughter, I do not see why you risk life and limb by calling her such."

Naruto grinned back at him. "She may be my cousin, but she's _way_ old, that's why! Plus it's hilarious when she gets mad."

"And frightening beyond all belief," Sai replied, but Naruto shrugged carelessly. Sasuke smirked, then stood up.

"If you're done eating, I believe we have a café to visit," the Uchiha prince said. "We have some answers to find."

* * *

**Author's Note: **

**Happy Birthday, Naruto! You're our favorite Knuckle-headed Ninja, and I hope our humble efforts at fanfiction can display how much we love and appreciate you. Believe it!**

**I hope y'all are looking forward to next chapter as much as I am... it promises to have much shenanigans. I don't know about you, but I _love_ shenanigans. Also, proper SasuSaku interaction at last!**

**Thank you to everyone who's faved, followed and reviewed! This story is a blast to write, and I'm glad to see you guys love it as much as I do. **

**I hope I'm writing Kakashi all right-it's my first time writing him and I'm not sure I've got him down right. I _think_ he's okay, but... eh. If he isn't, I'll just have to do better next time!**

**See ya next chapter, and once again to the Hidden Leaf's Orange Hokage-Happy Birthday!**


	6. Obito is a Cinnamon Roll

_Disclaimer: I'd like to say I own Naruto, but as Westley says, lies do not become us._

_Chapter Six: Obito is a Cinnamon Roll and Sasuke and His Pals Are In Way Over Their Heads._

* * *

"So, what happened is," Obito said, pausing to slurp from his glass of blood, "Your family is a jerk and wants to curse you?"

"O-or my s-sister, Hanabi." Hinata confirmed, poking daintily at her pasta with her plastic fork. This was a Otherworld restaurant, and they couldn't risk having any metal utensils that might carry traces of iron or silver.

"Wow." Obito said, "And I thought _my _family was hard to deal with."

Professor Hatake looked up from cutting his extra-extra rare steak. "Would this have anything to do with the rebellion?"

Hinata nodded timidly.

"Whaaaat?" The Uchiha exclaimed. "But that was, like… _eons_ ago!"

"My p-people have long me-memories." Hinata said, shyly hunching her shoulders.

"What rebellion?" Sakura asked, stirring her soup curiously. They had stopped to eat at a place that would actually serve something poor Obito could ingest, a nice little restaurant called _Cornucopia, _run by a family of brownies called the Akimichis. The food was _really, really _good, and the best thing was they added a hefty discount if you had some sort of food (preferably dairy-related) to give them beforehand. Accordingly, Professor Hatake (the cheapskate, as Obito proclaimed him) had stopped off at a corner store to pick up some cottage cheese.

"A really long time ago," Obito explained, "like _really_ long ago, before our current Seelie King was even born, there was a power struggle between two possible heirs for the head of the Hyuuga family. It caused a bunch of chain reactions amongst the other Seelie clans and a whole lot of nastiness, apparently, but eventually the rightful heir took the head position."

"B-but b-because of that, m-my family has s-since…" Hinata swallowed hard and whispered "_c-cursed_ any children of t-the H-head that aren't t-the h-heir." She poked at her pasta again. "F-father doesn't w-want that, after w-hat happened w-with him a-and my uncle, s-so he helped H-hanabi and I escape."

"Well," Obito took another slurp and expertly fended off the elbow his companion sent at his ribs, "It seems like we're in quite the pickle. _You_ can't let yourself be seen by Naruto, Hinata, or you'll be in danger of being exposed and dragged back to your nasty crackpot of a family. But, you also need to attend the class or you'll fail the course."

"I don't suppose you could fix something there, Professor?" Sakura said hopefully. "Like… I could tutor Hinata, and you could, you know… mark her as having attended, even if she really didn't?"

Professor Hatake stared at her with wide eyes. "You want me to _lie_ to the school board?" His voice was shocked and affronted, and Obito rolled his eyes and took an extra-obnoxious slurp.

Sakura winced. "Well… when you put it that way…"

"Don't listen to the jerk, he's just yanking your chain." Obito said with an eyeroll. "Kakashi has no problem lying to the school board, trust me."

Sakura and Hinata looked at each other with rather unimpressed faces while Kakashi sent his friend a wounded look. Obito returned his expression with a bland stare, and Kakashi coughed uncomfortably. "Well, my opinions about lying to the school board non-withstanding, we have a problem: if I know Sasuke—and I know him well, I trained those three boys you saw for years—he's probably guessed there's something weird going on. After all, Obito said you and Sasuke have met before, Sakura, correct?"

Sakura batted down the memory of dark eyes staring intently at her and nodded. "Yes, that's right."

Kakashi nodded. "Well, then. If he knows where you work, he's probably going to head there right away."

Hinata and Sakura stared at each other with horrified faces, but Obio waved a hand. "Ehhh, not right away. You know Naruto—nothing can keep him away from his noodles once class ends for the day, and he always drags Sasuke and Sai along with him. And with how much Naruto eats, we have plenty of time."

* * *

"_The Faery Cake_?" Sai asked, tilting his head to one side as he stared at the sign. "A strange name—logically, one would be afraid to eat anything within, lest they get trapped in the Faelands."

"It's only aesthetic, Sai. A bakery run by Otherworlders." Sasuke sighed. "You're the artist, you should be the one to realize that."

Naruto sniffed. "Ahhh, the place smells good! I feel in the mood for something sweet, all of a sudden."

Sasuke stared flatly at him. "You just ate, idiot."

The Seelie prince held up a finger and sniffed. "You should know better, Sasuke. I had supper, _yes…_ but I didn't have dessert!"

The vampire rolled his eyes. "Whatever. You're paying for it, then. Let's just go in."

"So, shall we just walk in, or shall we conduct this in a more surreptitious fashion?" Sai asked, and Sasuke shook his head.

"Nah, we'll just walk in. Try to avoid violence—Izumi works here, and if _she_ gets pissed, _Itachi_'_ll_ get pissed, and he'll take it out of _me._"

"Yeah, yeah, but if the crazy lady comes at me, I'll use self-defense." Naruto said, "and since she seems to hate me, I say the jerkwad should go first."

Sasuke glared at his idiot of a friend. "Why me?"

"I agree," Sai said pleasantly. "After all, Sasuke _is_ the prettiest, and therefore a good defense when unhinged females are present."

Sasuke stared at Sai, betrayal in his eyes, while Naruto complained loudly. "Oi! Why is _he_ the prettiest!? I'm a Seelie! Y'know, gorgeous woodland awesomeness!"

"Besides…"Sai said, dark eyes sliding towards the vampire prince, "I noticed a slight inclination in the 'crazy lady' towards Sasuke during the altercation in the class room, though she endeavored to hide it. It will undoubtedly be useful when we question her."

Sasuke's eyes widened, and he looked down, hunching his shoulders around his ears. _Don't listen to Sai. What does he know? He's an idiot, and he doesn't know anything about girls._

"All right, fine," he snapped, "since the rest of you are cowards, I guess I will go first." And with that, he slammed the door open and charged in, Sai and Naruto scurrying in at his heels to the sounds of the cheery tinkling bells above the door.

Their target was indeed there at the counter, and Sasuke felt his step falter for a second upon seeing her. She was undoubtedly the prettiest mortal he'd ever seen, with her unique pink hair pulled up into a messy ponytail and wearing the green apron with_ The Faery Cake _logo on the front, tied neatly in the back with a big bow.

She looked up as they came in, smiled sweetly, and chirped, "Welcome to _The Faery Cake_! What can I get you?"

Naruto opened his mouth to blurt out something stupid, but Sasuke stepped on his foot first, then stalked up to the counter. "An explanation of what happened today, maybe?"

She blinked her pretty green eyes, cocking her head to one side. "I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you're talking about?"

Naruto let out a strangled cry of outrage behind him, and there was a brief scuffle as Sai restrained him from charging forward in righteous, indignant fury. Sasuke ignored them (a long-practiced skill) and placed his hands on the counter, leaning forward until he was almost nose-to-nose with the mortal girl.

"That's not gonna work." He said. She stared back at him impassively. "I know you're the same girl that flipped out on Naruto today—you look just like each other, have the same weird hair;" And here the girl frowned at him, "And you have the same name—the same name Obito called you cause he'd _met you before_."

She didn't give in right away—he had to give her credit for her guts. Not many had the nerve to stare a Prince of the Uchiha line in the eye—though she was a mortal and somewhat clueless as to the Otherworld. Still, powerful eyes or not, his stare was well-known to be intimidating, and she didn't look intimidated in the slightest.

Reluctantly, he felt respect stirring in his stomach, along with something else—what it was, he wasn't sure, but it made him feel strange.

After a moment, however, Sakura heaved out a sigh and looked away, shrugging. "Fine. I admit it, I was the one in the class today."

There was a crow of triumph from the Seelie Prince in the back, followed by the sound of what was most likely an Unseelie King kicking said prince in the leg. Sounds Sasuke was rather familiar with, to be honest.

Naruto, however, managed to surge forward this time, slamming his hand onto the counter. "Why'd you accuse me like that! I didn't do anything to you!" He complained, rather justifiably.

"Calm down, Naruto." Sai said, reaching the counter and putting a hand on the Seelie's shoulder. "She might have had a reason."

"Yeah, like what?"

"For instance, she may have been irritated by your stupid face and attacked—quite an understandable response." The King responded with a pleasant smile.

Naruto shrieked in rage, and Sasuke smacked the backs of both their heads. "Idiots! Shut up!" The vampire spun back to the counter, to a Sakura who was watching with wide eyed amusement (an expression which did a lot to put her pretty green eyes on display, a rather stupid and traitorous part of his brain observed), and leaned forward threatening. "Naruto has a point. What was your reason for picking on the idiot?"

She glanced down, busily polishing the glass of the showcase with a towel. "I don't think I want to tell you," the mortal retorted with lofty tones, and Sasuke gaped at her in disbelief.

He had never had a girl refuse him so soundly before (not, however, that he had much to do with girls—he found most of them to be vastly irritating, with their whiny, squealing voices and uncomfortable stares). Luckily, Sai was there, and he too leaned forward.

"I must admit, I find the entire situation curious, myself." He said, smiling sharply. "So I must inform you that we will not be leaving until we get our answers."

Sakura smiled sharply back at him, lifting her chin with challenge in her gaze (another expression that the thrice-cursed part of Sasuke's brain admired). "Well, then, I'll just have to have you escorted out, then."

"I do not wish to cause trouble," Sai replied calmly, "But we will not be easily removed from this place."

"I wouldn't be to sure." A voice said from behind them. Sasuke, Naruto, and Sai all stiffened at once, spinning to face two very familiar figures standing in the doorway.

Obito Uchiha, his brother Shisui and Kakashi Hatake. The next moment, three other figures stepped into the front of the shop from the employee entrance—Hana Inuzuka the werewolf and her three huge, hulking wolfdogs.

The odds weren't looking great.

Obito grinned, the lights of the shop reflecting off his sunglasses as he crossed his arms. "Normally, you'd have to deal with the phooka they employ as a bouncer, but today's his day off. Luckily for you, you have _us _to deal with, instead."

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sai stared at each other, their thoughts for once completely in sync:

_Crapbaskets._

* * *

**Author's Note: **

**And so one cliffhanger is replaced with another!**

**Please don't be mad. **

**I hope you all enjoyed our first real Sasusaku interaction in chapters, and I promise, there'll be _much_ more next chapter (*rubs hands together in anticipation* heh heh hehhhh). I'm really having fun with my boys (Sasuke, Naruto and Sai) in this world, in case you couldn't tell. Also, notcrazy!Obito is so happy and nice to write (to soothe my sorrow over my tobito boy), and Kakashi is fun, if a little difficult. This AU is just SO. MUCH. FUN., people! And I'm glad so many of you are enjoying it as much as I do!**

**Also, on that track… anyone have any guesses as to _what_ Kakashi is, exactly? There are one or two hints, and I believe the answer will be revealed soon, but I wanna see if anyone can guess. If anyone _does_ guess correctly, I might perhaps write an extra in-canon oneshot as a reward and dedicate it to them.**

**(I'll probably write the extra in-canon oneshot anyway, fyi). **

**Speaking of my readers, I want to thank everyone for your lovely reviews (nobodysperfect2133: thanks! I'm glad you like my portrayal of Sai—he's my third favorite and he has so few fans, so that means a lot). Thanks to everyone for your faves and follows—you guys are amazing and I can't thank you enough for your support!**

**Anyway, I _really_ have to get to bed cause it's around 2:30 in the morning and tomorrow I have to get up way early and run about all day exhausting myself, so I'd better post this and go to sleep. Therefore, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy, and see you next chapter!**

**Until Next Time!**


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